Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, learning about the tragic shooting in Connecticut, interrupted a holiday party for the city’s fleet management workers on Friday to convey the bad news and ask for a moment of silence.

“Our hearts go out to the people of Newtown,” said Steve Hogan, the mayor of Aurora, where 12 people were killed and 58 were wounded in a mass shooting at a movie theater in July. “It is almost incomprehensible that an elementary school would be the site of such violence. We join the nation in praying for the victims, their families and all of those impacted by this terrible tragedy.”